campy

June 16, 2017

hello! the papertrey ink june release, including my new set hello mother, hello father is now available for purchase! i have one more quick card to share, another "tiny pantone match" inspired one, like the yellow tent card earlier in the week. i had originally started with this blue color chip and ended up switching to the yellow because of the sunshine sentiment, but couldn't throw this one away when i was cleaning my desk - all it needed was a mostly blue boat and oar! this time i decided to switch things up and chose an orange gingham card base from my bottomless stash rather than the gray dots. i really like the way blue pops on orange. hello summer!

here's a look at the complete set. a fill in the blank letter body along with several images to decorate camp stationery and postcards. plus, they're great for creating fun summer cards on their own as well. i hope you've enjoyed my projects as much as i enjoyed creating them! it's hard to pick a favorite, but i think i'm kind of partial to the camp postcards and the two pantone match inspired ones, especially the yellow tent because #yellowismyfavorite! the color blocked one was right up my alley too, lol! see, so hard to choose. as usual, i've created a pinterest board dedicated to the set. let me know if you create something - i'd love to add it too...

June 14, 2017

good morning! we've made it to day five of the papertrey ink june countdown to new stamps and i have one more look at hello mother, hello father for you. today, i decided to create another take on the original focus of the set, mail from camp. ease of use is always a good idea for younger campers, so i thought it would be fun to create a trifold all-in-one card. like a postcard, there's no envelope necessary, but this one folds in on itself, covering the contents.

the center panel (and thus the folded size) is 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" - just the right size to fit the fill-in-the-blank letter with room for design elements on each side. textile impressions has lots of options for adding those and other fun details throughout. i went with lemon tart cardstock rather than white because it's less see through after stamping and writing on it and it will stand out when it arrives in the mail. plus i love the look of color on color stamping.

the trifold design left room for a framed out section on the bottom fold-up flap for the camper to add a few more personal details or draw a picture, depending on her age or fancy. that way, the card can be a mix of information rather than just the fill-in-the-blank. i really wanted the design to be colorful and fun since this is kid's stationery, so i really went for it! i imagine a complete set to include the same stamped color scheme and layout on different coordinating light shades of cardstock.

i also carried the color and design to the other side as well, so that the card was as cute on the outside as on the inside. the front features lines ready and waiting for both the address and the return address plus a couple of oars, while the back features corner details on the flap and a line element for additional color along the bottom edge. the finishing touch is a coordinating sun sticker to close it up before mailing. it would also be fun to further personalize a set of these by adding the camp name to the line "from camp" or changing "camp" to the camper's name. either way, it will be happy mail for sure!! from camp stationery to summertime fun, i hope you've enjoyed my projects this week! remember hello mother, hello father will be available tomorrow at 10:00 pm et, along with everything else featured over the last few days. stay tuned to nichole's blog as usual for all the good scoop...

thanks for stopping by!:) lexi

make it:(hello mother, hello father; keep it simple: happy mail; and textile impressions will be available on june 15!)

June 12, 2017

hello! welcome back to day three of the papertrey ink june countdown to new stamps! today i wanted to share a card that is a little less about camp and more about summer in general, so i came up with a happy summer design with a focus on the individual images and pops of summer color. a color blocked card like this takes a little planning and measuring to get the blocks right, but i always love the outcome.

first, i stamp the images on scrap paper in a stacked, puzzle pieced kind of way to figure out how to block them - this works well on my grid pad, so i can pay attention to the space around the images and the sizes of blocks i'll need to cut. once i have the puzzle figured out, i search through my scraps for the right colors - in this case, a fun, summer palette. i wanted the colors to really shine on this design, so i stamped my images in slightly darker shades of the same color as the paper, coloring them in with slightly lighter shades of copics to make them pop just a bit. clean and simple stamping and lots of color make me a happy camper - pun intended! as always, you can get all of today's scoop on nichole's blog and then head back here tomorrow for another look at hello mother, hello father...

June 11, 2017

good morning! welcome back for day two of the june countdown to new papertrey ink stamps and another look at my new stamp set - hello mother, hello father - available june 15. today, i've created a set of camp postcards. no envelopes necessary for easy posting from camp!

the postcards are 4-1/4" x 6" following the usps specs on the maximum size to be used with a standard postcard stamp. and to minimize possible postal machine issues with layering, i stamped my scenes on text weight kraft paper and adhered them with edge to edge spray adhesive. this way, my stamping doesn't show through to the letter side or vice versa when writing is added, and it doesn't add much weight or depth difference.

for each of the three designs i used images from hello mother, hello father and textile impressions (also new!) with stencils created from scene it: skyscapes dies, along with sentiments from keep it simple: happy mail (you guessed it: new!) and pencilgrams (to add "from camp"). following the same formula to create a cohesive set of cards, i stamped the words on two lines in pine feather and dark chocolate, building a camp scene above. for the canoe design, i used the zig zag textile element to create water and on both the tent and fire designs, i used a different textile element on either side of the sentiment.

after stamping and masking the camp images, i cut the various skyscapes in acetate to create (reusable!) stencils with which to ink the backgrounds in layers. i also used post it tape to mask off straight lines where necessary, grounding my scenes above the sentiment. once the backgrounds were inked, i took off the masks and colored the images in with colored pencils, blending them with a colored pencil blender pen to give a smooth inked look.

the combination of coloring, masking, and ink blending really gives an illusion of depth on the flat card. the starry night sky was a little more challenging than the others in that i wanted light stars on a dark sky and it would be pretty difficult to mask all those stars. the solution was to ink the full circle in blue and then ink the star layer in white ink right on top, resulting in pretty light blue stars.

to complement the somewhat rustic look of the kraft paper, i stamped the letter text in dark chocolate on the back side, close to the left edge. on the right, i added four lines for the address using moments inked: posted, also in dark chocolate, masking off the right edge to get the perfect length and margin. to divide the two sides, i stamped the zig zag line from textile impressions in classic kraft. i see myself using this stamp a lot!

and there you have it - a little more involved than yesterday, but still so campy and fun! if you're making a set of postcards for an older camper, you can simply leave off the letter text in favor of space for the camper to write on his or her own. make a few of each and look forward to them coming back to you! or make them to send to your camper, taking off or changing the "from camp" part of the sentiment. hmmm, i may have to do that one myself when my girls head out next week. but first, more ideas tomorrow! until then, be sure to check out all there is to see today on nichole's blog...

enjoy!:) lexi

make it:(hello mother, hello father; keep it simple: happy mail; and textile impressions will be available on june 15!)

June 10, 2017

hello! welcome to day one of the papertrey ink countdown to the june release, and a new pieces of confetti stamp set, available on june 15. as if printing camp stationery all day every day isn't enough, now i'm stamping it too!! i began designing camp stationery when my girls started going to camp, and after their first letters of not so much information, i added fill-in-the-blank designs to my offerings, which continue to be among my most ordered items ten years later. because of their popularity, i thought it would be fun to create a stamp set along the same lines for my fellow stampers and other diy-ers who have camp kids and friends.

the set includes a fill-in-the-blank letter that hits the basic highlights of the camper's day, plus a few line drawn camp images. for today's designs, i wanted to use the stamps in their most straightforward form and create a set of simple camp stationery. i stamped the letter on several quarter cuts of white cardstock (thanks, mini misti for making that go quickly!) and drew a frame around the edges, before adding small camp scenes and coloring them in with colored pencils.

i chose a color scheme to coordinate with a few brightly colored envelopes i found in my stash for a fun overall look. what camper wouldn't love to send such cheerful, happy mail to family and friends?! frame border tip: cut a piece of cardstock to 4" x 5-1/4" and center it on the card base to trace around - one easy step with no extra measuring! i did this after stamping the text, but before stamping the scenes. the line not only finishes the edges but also helps ground the images.

speaking of the images, i really wanted them to have a true children's coloring book quality to them, so i left them very open and simply drawn, so that the resulting projects have a look that appeals to the kids who will use them. this also makes for quick and easy coloring that even they can do with ease. a camper who helps to create his or her own stationery may be more likely to use it!

or if you're making a set as a gift, you can leave them black and white and include a small set of colored pencils to take to camp with them. colorful envelopes can still add the bright and cheerful element to the card set and inspire the colors the camper chooses to finish them. a rest time spent on quick writing and fun coloring will surely make the day of the recipient who is missing their camper at home. i know i always love happy camper mail days!! that's it for my intro today - head on over tomorrow to see what else i come up with. until then, nichole's blog is the place to be...

July 08, 2016

camp time for my girls means photo stalking for me - refreshing the camp website, hoping to see pics of their smiling faces and get a glimpse at their activities and friends. as they get older, there are fewer pics of them, but i still look at every single one, scanning the background for body parts and clothing that i recognize! a while back, i started using the pics from camp to create the cards i use to write to them. they don't get to see them until after, so it's fun little peek into what i'm seeing and a photo they can add to the bulletin board in their trunk.

then end of the term, when i've collected enough photos, i also create little books or collages and send them to arrive at the end of the last week to share and enjoy with their cabin. it started as an autograph book alternative, but they've been with the same girls now for quite a while and text each other year round, so autograph books have become obsolete. but they still like receiving the pics and get a kick out of my silly presentations, like the flip books a couple of years ago. this year, there were way more of those background body part and unintentional photo bomb shots than anything else, so i created little "where's waldo?" type books with all the pics of other people that they were in somewhere. ha! i even included a magnifying glass to help them out!

one more day!:) lexi

p.s. camp stationery remains one of my most requested items - this is also something i can help you create!

June 04, 2015

this time of year, i print camp orders daily. mostly personalized campy stationery and fill in the blank camp notes designed for campers to send to friends and family at home. but what about mail to the camper? these are postcards that make it easy for the camper to get mail as well. printed with the camper's name and camp address, along with the dates during which to mail them, you can pass them out to classmates or family. and then all the friend or family member needs to do is write on the back, add a postcard stamp, and drop it in the mail. lots of mail at mail call makes for a very happy camper!

disclosure

i participate in affiliate programs for papertrey ink, scrapbook dot com and amazon, meaning that i receive a small commission on products purchased through many links on my blog - at no additional cost to you! additionally, i receive royalties for the products i personally design for papertrey ink, as well as compensation for some content i create on their behalf. please note that i only link and share products that i can honestly stand behind and enjoy using myself.